Gas Prices Reverse Trend, Edging Higher Last Week 

The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline increased by 2.5 cents last week to reach $2.60, according to industry analysts at GasBuddy. The drop ends three consecutive weeks of falling pump prices.

Crude oil traded around $56.77 a barrel early Monday morning, up about 1% from Friday’s closing price. Over the past month, the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for immediate delivery has risen by about $4.10 a barrel (about 7.8%). The entire increase came in the past two weeks.

GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, Patrick DeHaan, commented, “While the national average gas price didn’t show much of a significant trend either way, oil prices did jump last week on the solid jobs report and on news of a growing consensus that the U.S. and China have agreed to some form of a trade deal. …  Last week’s oil jump may derail falling gas prices ahead of Thanksgiving, though we still may see prices drift lower. The good economic news means prices will not drop as much as they could have otherwise.”

Crude oil prices rose by about $0.85 a barrel, after jumping by $3.25 a barrel in the previous week. The smaller increase is due, at least in part, to last week’s 5.7 million barrel rise in U.S. crude oil inventories.

Retail price movements were mixed last week. The week’s median price for a gallon of regular gas was $2.43, up a nickel week over week. The average price at the 10% of gas stations charging the most for gas was $3.88 a gallon (down three cents), while the average at the 10% charging the least was $2.12 (unchanged). The most common price across the country was $2.39 a gallon, 10 cents higher week over week.

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The five states where drivers are paying the most for a gallon of gas are California ($4.10), Hawaii ($3.75), Nevada ($3.51), Washington ($3.40) and Oregon ($3.32). Alaska is the only other state that currently reports a price of more than $3 a gallon.

The five states where gas is cheapest are Louisiana ($2.21 a gallon), Mississippi ($2.21), Alabama ($2.26), Missouri ($2.26) and Texas ($2.26).

Compared to last month, the national average is down 3.9 cents per gallon, and compared to last year, prices are 10.8 cents lower.

Check out the cost of a gallon of gas the year you were born.

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